«Sully», by the great Clint Eastwood

Cinema Wednesdays - Jonas Follonier

Sully recounts the real-life story of American pilot Chesley Sullenberger, who on January 15, 2009, in New York, was faced with a situation unprecedented in aviation history: a collision with birds had caused the loss of both of the plane's engines, just moments after take-off. Between instinct and experience, Sullenberger opted for an emergency landing on the Hudson River. A crazy choice, against protocol. All the passengers survived.

This event alone could have inspired Clint Eastwood's masterpiece currently on the screens. Yet it's the aftermath of January 15, 2009 that remains the most interesting, and lies at the heart of the plot of Sully While both the press and public opinion hailed Major Sullenberger's feat from the outset, the National Transportation Safety Board felt that the pilot could have chosen a less dangerous option than landing on the river, and launched an investigation.

This inquisitive spirit of the judiciary and the state towards the hero forms the core of the biographical drama we're dealing with here. It's a drama built on a number of bivalences: the opposition between the status of savior and that of criminal, the complementarity of the pilot and co-pilot - played magnificently by Tom Hanks and Aaron Eckhart - but also the back-and-forth sequences that take us from the story unfolding after the fateful day to the gradual reconstruction of US Airways Flight 1549. With this cinematographic choice, Clint Eastwood, more of a dramatist than ever, delivers an excellent production.

Even if the film has trouble getting off the ground, it knows how to show its power to those who want to recognize it, without falling into the American film trap with all its clichés (a trap Eastwood could have fallen into, let's just remember’American Sniper). It's all about dosage, finesse and suggestion. And that's where the emotions come from. «This is the commander speaking to you. Prepare for impact. This sentence and the anguish that ensues in the plane are truly gripping.

The commander's talent for piloting his plane and saving lives can also be applied to Clint Eastwood, who pilots his film. Although absent from the screen, the octogenarian filmmaker is infinitely present in the film. No wonder it's a success, when you realize that the film features an individual opposing the state, a hero opposing the elite, know-how opposing the law. Contrary to what most critics say, Clint Eastwood's cinema is totally consistent with his political credo: liberal anarchism.

Write to the author : jonas.follonier@leregardlibre.com

Image: Tom Hanks (© Europe 1)